It continues that “many people would not choose to work in the sex industry and that they do so because of economic necessity rather than criminal coercion”.

It “regrets that current UK legislation forces sex workers to work alone, leaving workers vulnerable to crime and the threat of losing access to their families.”

It says that therefore “sex workers should have the same rights as those in other industries”.

The motion “supports the New Zealands model of full-decriminalisation which would give sex workers protections as workers in law.”

It calls on the TUC “to adopt a policy in favour of full de-criminalisation and to campaign alongside appropriate organisations to achieve this”.

Sex workers attended a fringe event on Monday at the TUC to push the case for decriminalisation, complaining that the current law infringed their human rights by preventing them from setting up brothels.

But they were shouted down by campaigners who said prostitution demeans women, could increase sexism and violence, and lead to a “brothel on every corner”.

One argued that the New Zealand model would mean women would be able to set small brothels up without any registration.